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I often hear stories about online coupon deals that don’t live up to buyers’ expectations. How often do struggling businesses use deeply discounted vouchers, which are paid for in advance, to get an inflow of cash and shore up their finances?

I’ve written a few times about the Toronto butcher who continues to turn away coupon customers away since last spring. Two daily deal websites (Webpiggy and Buytopia) are no longer giving refunds, while Dealfind is still giving refunds.

I mentioned this case again here, along with a few others that have generated complaints. For more about those $85 Google Android tablets from Dealfind, check here.

In Ottawa, another butcher called Aubrey’s Meats had to suspend coupon redemptions until May 2012 because of financial troubles. It’s a similar story.

21 comments

The merchants are often unhappy with the deal they have struck with the coupon site and take that out on the customers.

One yelled at my son and refused to honour the coupon (Quiznos).

Another spent a half hour telling me how unhappy he was with the deal site and that he would be paid less than $15 for the $60 of meat I was buying. (I had bought 2 of these coupons and let the second one lapse, I felt so awful after leaving that store.)

While we have had a couple of good experiences, the losses exceed the gains, so we no longer buy the ‘deals’.

I think if a merchant is using them they should welcome their new customers and take that opportunity to show their best side. Otherwise we are both just throwing our money out the window.

I bought 2 units in early January of this year and did not receive them until mid-February, after many calls to Dealfind. They screwed up on how to redeem the coupon voucher.

Ellen, you have just hit the tip of the iceburg with this one. My units would not turn on properly; the charger didn’t work; it would go blank and come back on in Chinese; and it also would run very hot with the screen pixiling out.

What a ripoff. Here’s the kicker: They sold about 4,850 units @ $85 and then Dealfind put the Group Coupons out there again to the public in mid-February. UNBELIEVABLE !!!!

How can Dealfind not be accountable for this MESS? They should refund everybody’s money, as long as they forward their Coupon Vouchers directly to the said companies.

This ripoff is huge money wise. Do the math. I do not have the number of units sold for the 2nd offering by Dealfind, but something stinks here.

My experience was with Offeron and a deal for bamboo sheets. I should have known it was too good to be true.

Sure enough, after purchasing two Offeron coupons and following the instructions for ordering the two sets of sheets, I heard nothing for two months!

I searched “National Hotel Supply” website for a phone number or even an email, but the only way you could contact this company is through an online form.

I sent one asking for information and got a standard reply: Because of an increased demand, there was a delay.

Then I got a Canada Post shipping confirmation sent to me, but it was not for my order and had someone else’s name on it. I tried to contact them again and again and again with no response.

I contacted Offeron and they kept telling me to contact the company, but wouldn’t give me a phone number to call them. I persevered and became more and more angry and frustrated (and angry with myself for getting taken).

Finally, I got one set of sheets in the mail. Lo and behold, they are definitely not bamboo sheets! They say 150 thread count and look like they were purchased from a dollar store.

I contacted the company again and got a response that these were actually bamboo sheets but they were packaged wrong. Seriously, is anyone that gullible? I asked to return them but they wouldn’t take them.

Then I asked Offeron for a refund on my second coupon. To their credit, they did give me one. But now I have this awful, scratching dollar store quality sheet set that I wouldn’t even give to a shelter.

I wrote to Offeron telling them that I would never purchase from their company again because they don’t stand behind their offers.

On a more positive note, I have had nothing but excellent customer service from Groupon. They seem to be the leaders in this field and any time I’ve had an issue they have resolved it quickly and professionally.

They also give credit for expired Groupons for the price it was purchased for, so you don’t actually lose your money, just the deal price.

This comment is about Dealfind. I’ve had some good experiences and some bad.

First the good. In Spring 2011, I purchased 3 vouchers for a garden centre merchant with no expiration date. I went to use them this Spring but the merchant had posted notices outside the garden centre stating that they refused to honour the vouchers.

I asked the manager why and was told that Dealfind hadn’t honoured their wishes about the vouchers, i.e., they wanted an expiration date and they wanted a limit (it was billed as unlimited) of how many vouchers a person could purchase.

I contacted Dealfind and surprise, surprise, they are in the process of refunding my money.

Now for the bad experience. I purchased 4 vouchers for a spa-type merchant (again no expiration date). After the garden centre fiasco, I thought I should contact my other “no expiration date” vouchers. They stated that Dealfind was supposed to put an expiration date on the voucher and since they didn’t, they wouldn’t honour my voucher.

A highly magnanimous Dealfind says they don’t normally refund after 30 days…..BUT this one time they will give me Dealfind Dollars to equal my total expenditure.

I don’t want to deal with Dealfind anymore, ever. I don’t trust them and won’t buy from them again.

Well, I guess I came late to the party! My complaint is about Dealfind.

I purchased two vouchers for dental cleanings from Appleday Dental in October 2010 with no expiry dates. When I tried using them, sure enough, they weren’t honouring them due to issues with Dealfind.

Now I feel stuck in the middle with a loss of money and no dental cleanings. Why is the consumer being punished like this, I ask? Why didn’t Dealfind contact me as soon as they realized the merchant wouldn’t honour the vouchers?

They must have known very quickly that their customers would not get satisfaction. Yet they did nothing, knowing they have a one-year refund policy and if they just waited, they wouldn’t have to issue refunds.

I bought some vouchers from Dealfind and paid over $200.00, the vendors are refusing to honor the vouchers as they are claiming that Dealfind failed to submit a payment to them. I wrote to dealfind and explained the situation and noted that the vendor is not out of business, they refused to refund my money, I replied back to their email and they send me a very generic email and close the case. How can they get away with murder. I will contact BBB, I am very interested to know if there is a class action against Dealfind, I would like to be part of this. Please advise

I bought a coupon from Dealticker for a spa package with TWC image spa. TWC cannot provide me with any appointments for months and TWC asked me to contact Dealticker for a refund.

Dealticker refused to provide me with a refund. I have been very patient and followed DealTicker’s advice to wait for TWC image hair spa to contact me to schedule an appointment. However, this has not happened.

Essentially, I have paid for a $35 non-service, having received absolutely nothing in return. I have not received a satisfactory response after multiple emails. It has been months.

Dealticker finally confirmed with me today that they will not provide any refund, even though TWC cannot provide me any service.